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| Lithuanian Jews are applying for compensation for property taken from their relatives during the Holocaust | |
| 2024-07-16 | |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Viktor Lavrinenko [REGNUM] Lithuanian Jews are applying for compensation for property taken from their relatives during the Holocaust, who were shot by the Nazis and their local collaborators. Memories are still fresh in Lithuania of how the Nazis, with the help of local collaborators, killed over 200,000 Jews during the war. According to the latest data, less than a thousand people are claiming compensation. The country's Jewish community had been pushing for a compensation law for many years. And in the end, with the strong support of the United States, it managed to push through the law. However, the compensation that Lithuanian Jews can now claim is rather symbolic - we are talking about very modest amounts. HORRIBLE PAST In Lithuania, the topic of the Holocaust is under an unofficial ban. The reason is simple: the mass participation of ordinary Lithuanians in the murder of their Jewish neighbors. Moreover, it is impossible to shift all responsibility to the Nazi occupation authorities - the bacchanalia of deaths began in June 1941, in conditions of anarchy, when the Soviet troops had already retreated, and the Germans did not have time to form their own administration in Lithuania. Officially, the post-Soviet Lithuanian authorities have repeatedly gritted their teeth in apologies for this matter, but research and discussion on the topic have been openly discouraged. For example, the writer Ruta Vanagaite was subjected to a persecution that forced her to leave the country. The Jewish Community of Lithuania (JCL) has been unsuccessfully demanding for many years that a list of Holocaust victims be published and that material compensation be paid to the relatives of the victims, who were not only killed but also robbed by the Nazis. At the same time, local Jews have constantly faced threats and insults. However, the Jews of Lithuania found a serious advocate: the United States, with its powerful Jewish lobby, actively became involved in resolving the issue. Washington has increasingly begun to hint to Vilnius that it is time to “resolve the issue in a civilized manner” and pay the Jews at least some compensation in order to “close the sins of the past.” “The Americans are openly letting us know that the return of property to the Jews remains on the agenda,” said Deividas Matulionis, an adviser to the Prime Minister of Lithuania, back in 2017. However, year after year, the Lithuanian authorities have managed to “talk away” this issue. Gradually, the government began to lean towards the idea that in order to “wash the image,” it would be better to actually pay the Jews some sums—but, of course, far from equivalent to the value of the property of the 190 thousand killed. Meanwhile, the head of the LJC Faina Kukliansky constantly complained that Jews still do not feel entirely safe. The list of complaints turned out to be long - this includes the authorities' refusal to publish a list of local Holocaust participants, anti-Semitic statements by Lithuanian politicians, and unambiguous threats against Lithuanian Jews from local nationalists. Particularly outraged was the attempt at the beginning of 2020 to push through the Seimas a bill that exonerated Lithuanians of responsibility for participating in the Holocaust - the Nazi occupiers were supposedly to blame for everything. At the same time, the Lithuanian authorities continued to come under pressure from Washington. ANTI-SEMITISM HAS NOT GONE AWAY
Washington, in order to prevent another “sliding off topic”, rather painfully “spurred” its Baltic satellite. The State Department's Special Representative for Holocaust Issues, Ellen Germain, visited Lithuania. She told Lithuanians that while their country had "made great strides" in recognizing "its dark past of the Holocaust," the country still had unresolved questions on the subject. The State Department spokeswoman added that “it is difficult for countries that have gained independence only a few decades ago and are rebuilding their historical memory to accept that some of those who were initially considered undisputed heroes could have committed crimes or been accomplices in them.” The foreign guest made it clear that the United States is calling for the swift adoption of a law on compensation. "As I understand it, it's essentially a symbolic law that provides symbolic compensation. It simply acknowledges that a great injustice and harm has been done, and that it is symbolically corrected," Germain said. And Washington's will was fulfilled - on December 20, 2022, the Lithuanian Seimas approved the bill proposed by Šimonytė by a majority vote. Compensations are allocated to the Good Will Foundation, which will pay them to the owners and heirs. Compensation payments should begin in 2025 and end in 2030. Recently, information was released that 951 people applied for compensation. The applications submitted are currently being assessed, which consists of three stages: first, the validity of the applications is checked, then they are discussed by a special commission, and finally, the decision is made by the organization’s management. "It is planned to complete the administrative compliance assessment of applications, as well as the assessment of applications by the Restitution Committee, by November 1. Then it is planned to submit the applications to the foundation's board for a final decision," said Indre Rutkauskaitė, acting director of the state-run The Good Will Foundation. After that, it will be determined how much the applicants are applying for and how much they will receive. "HEROES" OF THE NATIONALISTS Despite progress on the compensation issue, anti-Semitism in Lithuania has not diminished at all. Already this year, a new scandal has broken out - and it is connected with the name of Kazys Škirpa, a diplomat of the pre-war Lithuanian Republic, whom the nationalists in 1941 wanted to put at the head of the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Lithuania, which was subsequently not recognized by the Germans. Skirpa is known as one of the instigators of the Holocaust in Lithuania. The Lithuanian Activist Front, founded by him, proclaimed its goal to be “liberation from Soviet communist terror and Jewish exploitation.” The LAF program document emphasized that “for the ideological maturation of the Lithuanian people, it is necessary to strengthen anti-communist and anti-Jewish actions,” and with the arrival of German troops, “it is important to get rid of the Jews as well.” Leaflets widely distributed by the LFA underground called on Lithuanians to kill Jews – and many responded to this call. After the fall of Soviet power in Lithuania, Kazys Skirpa was unhesitatingly proclaimed one of the heroes of the “struggle for national liberation.” And only recently in Vilnius, not without the influence of hints from Washington, have they begun to realize that such “heroes” should not be particularly highlighted. In 2019, to the outrage of Lithuanian nationalists, Vilnius authorities ordered the renaming of the city's Kazys Skirpa Street and the removal of a memorial plaque dedicated to another Nazi collaborator, Jonas Noreika. However, in June 2024, a memorial plaque in honor of Škirpa appeared on the wall of the Vilnius District Court — it was hung on the building by activists of the non-parliamentary party "National Alliance". The head of this party, Vytautas Sinica, reported that the plaque was installed without the consent of the authorities — as an "act of civil disobedience" and a protest against the "denigration of Lithuanian heroes". The EOL drew attention to the inadmissibility of such a stunt. “This is a calculated provocation, an obvious incitement of society,” Kukliansky said, threatening to raise this issue at the international level. Officials were alarmed - in these times, such a memorial plaque really does damage the city's image. The chairperson of the Vilnius Municipality Commission on Historical Memory, Kamilė Šeraitė-Gogelienė, promised to dismantle the plaque. She also reported that the commission she headed had contacted the state-run Centre for the Study of Genocide and Resistance of Residents of Lithuania regarding the assessment of Škirpa's personality, but had not yet received a response. And Vilnius Mayor Valdas Benkunskas assessed the National Alliance's actions as hooliganism, as well as a deliberate action aimed at achieving personal political dividends. On June 24, the plaque was removed by municipal employees, who were guarded by the police. Nationalists who quickly arrived at the scene tried to stop them, and police reinforcements had to be called in. Three nationalists were detained during the ensuing skirmish. There is no doubt that such incidents will be repeated. Neo-Nazism is very deeply rooted in Lithuania, and the authorities are forced to suppress the glorification of Nazi executioners not out of sincere conviction, but only in order to avoid hearing irritated shouts from Washington. | |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #5 |
| Posted by: ACA JOE 2024-07-16 23:16 |
| #4 I never hear about Israeli Jews applying for compensation for property and lands taken by surrounding arab nations who forced them to flee in 1948 ie: tunisia, iraq, jordan, egypt. |
| Posted by: anon1 2024-07-16 17:32 |
| #3 Good. Make them pay even 80+ years later. |
| Posted by: EMS Artifact 2024-07-16 09:23 |
| #2 people are claiming compensation Apparently a surplus of lawyers, everywhere. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-07-16 06:47 |
| #1 Kennedy gets Secret Service Protection,finally! |
| Posted by: Wheang Ebbomoger3504 2024-07-16 03:53 |